Vatican: Pope's condition 'very grave'

Pontiff suffers cardiocirculatory collapse, septic shock

VATICAN CITY (UP) -- Pope John Paul II's condition was "very grave" after he suffered cardiocirculatory collapse and septic shock, a Vatican spokesman said Friday.

It was the first time the Vatican had used such language to describe the pontiff's latest health crisis. The deputy to the Vatican spokesman denied media reports that the pope had fallen into a possible coma. The report first came from an Italian news agency and was mentioned in an announcement on Vatican radio. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls denied media reports the ailing pontiff had suffered a heart attack. He described the pope as lucid and serene and said the pontiff was being treated in the Vatican because it was his desire to remain in his residence and not return to the hospital. The pontiff even concelebrated a Mass early Friday, Navarro-Valls said. "The pope is being assisted by his personal doctor, Renato Buzzonetti, as well as two intensive care specialists, a cardiologist and an ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as two nurses," he said. A Vatican official said earlier that the pope appeared to be responding well to antibiotic treatment for a urinary tract infection that caused him to develop a fever. On Thursday night, as his health deteriorated, the pontiff received the Catholic Church's sacrament Anointing of the Sick, formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction -- a ritual of healing, a Vatican source told CNN. The sacrament is given to patients who are seriously ill in addition to those who are near death. The pope last received the sacrament in 1981, when he was wounded by a would-be assassin. (Last rites) The news of the pope's worsening condition came two days after the Vatican revealed that he had a feeding tube inserted through his nose to provide more nutrition as he struggled to recover from a tracheotomy five weeks ago. The 84-year-old pope suffers from a number of chronic illnesses, including crippling hip and knee ailments and Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that can make breathing and swallowing difficult. Doctors performed the tracheotomy in early February as John Paul II recovered from a bout of influenza that forced his hospitalization. Ill health forced the pope to miss several events during Holy Week preceding Easter. On Wednesday, during his regular weekly general audience, the pope appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square for about four minutes. Unable to speak, he used hand gestures to bless thousands of people gathered for a glimpse of him. On Easter Sunday, the pope tried to speak to a crowd assembled in St. Peter's Square but could not get out the words. He made the sign of the cross with his hand instead. (Full story) On Monday, he missed the post-Easter Queen of Heaven prayer for the first time in his 26-year papacy. The traditional appearance on the Monday after Easter has marked the end of the Holy Week celebrations. (Full story) In Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick urged Catholics and non-Catholics on Thursday to pray for the pope. "May he recover. We pray for that. May the Lord give him strength, and may he be able once again to communicate in the way he has done in the past with such heart and such wisdom," McCarrick said. "But if this is not the Lord's will, then may he not suffer, because he is certainly going through a period of suffering now." The use of a feeding tube for the pope illustrates his position on treatment for the critically ill. In 2004, he wrote that doctors have a moral duty to preserve life. "The administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural way of preserving life ... not a medical procedure," he wrote. The Vatican has criticized a Florida judge's order to remove the feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman who died Thursday after nearly two weeks without food or water. (Full story)

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